Project progress has two components – speed and direction. How fast the project is progressing and if progressing in right direction or not. And this provides project team a choice to measure speed and /or direction or simply velocity.
A lot of people think in terms of one dimension (speed). Almost all of those people are passed by people who think in multiple dimensions (velocity).
It’s tempting to think that in order to be a valuable team player, you should say “yes” to every request and task that is asked of you. People who say yes to everything have a lot of speed. They’re always doing stuff but never getting anything done. Why? Because they don’t think in terms of direction and velocity.
How can we build a valuable piece of software without understanding who will use it and for what purpose?
If we are not sure about the exact requirements, how can we bring value to the end-user?
Thats why it is important in the beginning of any project, to Ask you the question ”Why does the customer want this piece of software to be built?”
Speed is irrelevant if you are going in the wrong direction. Agree?
So, what are your project team measures?